The Ship Of Dreams
by Sugar Kane
Summary: It's Titanic - but with L&O characters!


****

_Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine, and no profit is made from these stories. (But I do have fun writing them! : )_

**The Cast**

Jack McCoy......................Jack Dawson  
Claire Kincaid....................Rose DeWitt Bukater  
Mike Logan.......................Caledon Hockley  
Lennie Briscoe...................Captain Smith  
Ben Stone..........................Thomas Andrews  
Donald Cragen...................J. Bruce Ismay  
Adam Schiff.......................John Jacob Astor  
Nora Lewin.......................Molly Brown  
Serena Southerlyn..............Passenger  
Paul Robinette...................Drowning Passenger  
Ed Green..........................Third Class Passenger

**April 14, 1912**

"Ben, what's going on?" Mike asked.   
  
"The ship's sinking. We only have about an hour," Ben replied. And he would know - after all, he supervised the construction of the ship. He was also the one who pleaded with those in charge at the White Star Line to supply the proper amount of lifeboats - but they were more concerned with cost-cutting; never mind that it was morally repugnant to put so many lives at risk.   
  
"Oh my God!" Claire exclaimed. "Jack!"  
  
"Who the hell cares about your little poor boy from Chicago?" Mike sneered.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jack found himself handcuffed to a post in a small room on one of the ship's lower levels. _Dammit,_ he thought, _my father was a cop for 31 years. At some point he must have showed me how to jimmy these things open.  
_  
Then Claire appeared at the door, her gown and hair soaking wet. But she was still stunningly beautiful. And their love was still so forbidden.

"Claire, thank God!" Jack exclaimed. "Now get me out of these things. But be careful with that axe - I need my hands for...well, you know..."

* * *

Ben was beside himself with fury.  
  
"I _warned_ you about this, Donald!" he shouted. "First it was the lifeboats. And now the ship is going to sink because of _your_ idea of getting to New York before we were expected there. You people in command are all the same - your egos come before anything else. All I can say is that I hope this remains with you for the rest of your life."  
  
"I know," Donald said. "To me, it was a great idea. Now nothing matters. Squat. Bupkes."

* * *

Lennie Briscoe looked on from his captain's post. _Oh well,_ he thought. _It could have been worse. I could have drank myself to death, or had a heart attack while cheating on one of my ex-wives. I'll go down with my ship. At least I won't have to pay any more alimony._

* * *

Jack and Claire made their way back to the ship's top deck. Sparks were flying everywhere - the flooding was causing the ship's electricity to short out. Suddenly they heard voices.  
  
"Hey man!" Ed shouted from behind locked steel doors. "You can't do this to us!"  
  
"He's right!" Claire said.  
  
"Claire, no! We have to get out of here!"  
  
But Claire prevailed. Every time she looked at Jack with those beautiful dark eyes, he couldn't help but give in. He smashed the door open using a piece of furniture.  
  
"Thanks," Ed said. "Now, is there a casino on this damn ship?"

* * *

Adam Schiff sat on a chair in the grand ballroom, a torrent of water rushing towards him.   
  
"Adam!" Ben shouted. "There's no time! You have to get out!"  
  
"No, I'm staying right here," Adam replied. "I'm an old dog, and I've had a good life. I want to go gracefully. But you go, Ben. Save yourself. It wasn't your fault that this was a poorly built ship. Sometimes things are flawed, and water can seep through the slightest loophole."  
  
"But I'm supposed to be guilty that I didn't build a better ship," Ben said.  
  
"Never mind that. It didn't get you anywhere with Anne Madsen either."

* * *

Jack and Claire finally got to the ship's top deck. Mike was waiting for them.  
  
"What the hell happened to you?" he asked. Claire looked like a drowned rat, while her fiance still looked absolutely flawless. Even his plaid bow tie was pristine. She was shivering. Mike put his overcoat around her shoulders.

"Get on the lifeboat," he said. "Jack and I will wait for another one."  
  
"No way!" Claire exclaimed. "I may be young, but I'm not as naive as you think. I know what's going to happen - never mind that this movie came out a year _after_ I was killed. You'll get me on the lifeboat, and then you'll probably kill Jack and get on one yourself. Screw you, Mike. You belong on a beat on Staten Island!"  
  
She grabbed Jack's hand and they ran towards the other side of the ship. It was going down _fast._ They witnessed a blonde woman plunge towards the water.  
  
"No!" Serena screamed. "This isn't fair! I _am_ a good lawyer!"  
  
She struck one of the ship's large propellers. It split her body in two.  
  
"Ouch," Jack said. "That's gotta hurt."

* * *

"Dear Lord," Nora said as she watched the ship sink. She had ended up on the same lifeboat as Mike. He watched her with rapt interest.   
  
"Why do they call you 'unsinkable'?" he asked.  
  
"Because I've known Jack for over thirty years, but he's never gotten me into bed!" she answered with a smile.

* * *

Now Jack and Claire were in the freezing water, waiting to be saved. Claire managed to get onto one of the ship's wooden planks, while Jack clung to its side.  
  
"Never give up on me, Claire," he said.  
  
"Shut up, Jack. I'm an independent woman. I don't need your melodramatic histrionics."  
  
Suddenly Ben arrived in an empty lifeboat.  
  
"There's my favourite assistant!" he exclaimed.  
  
"Thanks a lot, Ben!" Paul spoke his last words before drowning.   
  
Ben helped Claire into the lifeboat, while Jack looked on in dismay. Surely Ben wouldn't let him die. But then again, he just might. They never liked each other.  
  
"Come on, Jack," Ben said, offering his arm.  
  
"Thanks, Ben. I thought you were going to leave me here."  
  
"I _should._ You're a disgrace. You should be ashamed of yourself, having affairs with your assistants and bending the law to the point where even justice seems unseemly. But life is sacred, Jack. Even yours."  
  
_finis_


End file.
